„About Us Without Us. Media and Information Market in the V4 Countries” – discussion panel during the XXX Economic Forum in Karpacz

Editors-in-Chief of media from the Czech Republic, Poland, Slovakia and Hungary took part in a discussion panel on the media market in the V4 countries, which took place during the 30^th Economic Forum in Karpacz.

30 years after the establishment of a globally unique agreement between countries on whose territories the hot fronts of World War I, World War II and the Cold War were fought, it seems that we continue to obtain information about each other from third countries. What is the reason for this? Is information a value? Is there such a thing as information warfare? Is Visegrad Europe organically doomed to be an object and not a subject? This question was answered by the editors-in-chief of leading media from the Czech Republic, Poland, Slovakia and Hungary.

The panel was led by Maciej Szymanowski, Director of the Wacław Felczak Polish-Hungarian Cooperation Institute. The discussion was attended by: Paweł Lisicki, Editor-in-Chief of Tygodnik Do Rzeczy, Matyáš Zrno, Program Director of Civic Institute from the Czech Republic, Jozef Majchrák, Editor of Postoj from Slovakia and Zoltán Szalai, Editor-in-Chief of the Hungarian Mandiner.

Director Szymanowski, starting the discussion, said that Poles had learned that the Prime Minister of the Czech Republic is Mr. Andrej Babis only because the conflict over Turów had begun. Three televisions in Poland did not notice the elections taking place in Slovakia. It looks a little better in the case of Hungary, but there is also disinformation. How can this situation be improved? What should be done to make foreign media use our articles, and not vice versa?

Zoltan Szalai replied to this question: – I would like to present a historical diagnosis – after 1990, after the times of dependence on the USSR, we started to orient ourselves towards the West, and from that time the problem of the centre and the periphery appeared. From there, we get information through the west. After 1990, we thought that the great Western media agencies would be a landmark and a source of information for us. We were part of Europe, but we were orientated towards the West and did not pay due attention to the media in Poland, the Czech Republic and Slovakia. After all these years, we have reached the point where we are interested in what social phenomena and processes are taking place in our countries. Thanks to institutions, we get to know each other, interpersonal contacts develop. Cooperation among individual media houses should also develop in this way.

Jozef Majchrák was the next to speak: – Currently, information is sourced from one media centre and that is where anti-EU content often appears. This information often lacks context. It often looks like liberal opinion prevails, so the content is not subjective. What to do with this? This is a difficult topic, long-term work is needed to strengthen the conservative media in order to balance the market.

Matyáš Zrno said: – We have two groups of residents who are separated by the boundaries of the cultural struggle – the first group thinks that there is an evil Archduke in Hungary, while the second group considers the countries of our region as defenders of the West. Unfortunately, mainstream media reporting is what it is. The Czech media, practically all of them, accepted the information without batting an eyelid that Viktor Orban had abolished the parliament and would rule by decree. Nobody checked this message. Large media, which have good specialists for various countries, but do not have anyone in Poland and Hungary, like the New York Times, rely on information from the outside. In an Italian newspaper you could read that students from the Czech Republic hate the European Union so much that they don’t want to go on Erasmus. The media takes information from unreliable sources. In order to rectify this in small steps, we need to learn about each other.

Paweł Lisicki added that in the 1990s, the entire Polish policy was to join NATO and the EU as soon as possible. – After this event, most of the elites adopted the narrative that we will learn everything from Western countries. Poles were Euro-enthusiasts. If we assume that the centre of the world is in Brussels, we have our backs turned to the countries of the former Soviet bloc. From the Polish point of view, there has been a big turnaround in this matter. Law and Justice Party decided to emphasize Polish subjectivity. Opposition to what Brussels officials wanted to impose on the region began. Poland and Hungary were increasingly censored. There were several debates in the European Parliament on the situation of Poland, which were completely pointless. If we strive to build a great EU state, then countries such as Poland and Hungary will be on the periphery.

The partner of the panel is the Wacław Felczak Polish-Hungarian Cooperation Institute.